You May Also Like

"The division between conventional and traditional medicine is as artificial as the division between science and nature. They can be woven together in a fashion that meets our physical, emotional, and spiritual needs. This is the foundation upon which integrative medicine is built."  Tieraona Low Dog, M.D.

In Life Is Your Best Medicine, Dr. Low Dog weaves together the wisdom of traditional medicine and the knowledge of modern-day medicine into an elegant message of health and self-affirmation for women of every age. This is a book that can be read cover to cover but also dipped into for inspiration or insight about a particular physical or mental health issue or remedy.

We learn that, despite the widespread availability of pharmaceutical medications, advanced surgical care, and state-of-the-art medical technology, chronic illness now affects more than 50 percent of the American population. The evidence is overwhelmingly clear that much of the chronic disease we are confronting in the United States has its roots in the way we live our lives. Research shows that if Americans embraced a healthier lifestyle, which includes a balance between rest and exercise; wholesome nutrition; healthy weight; positive social interactions; stress management; not smoking; limited alcohol use; and no or limited exposure to toxic chemicals; then 93 percent of diabetes, 81 percent of heart attacks, 50 percent of strokes, and 36 percent of all cancers could be prevented!

This means that each one of us has the power to shift the odds of being healthy in our favor. And if you do get sick, being fit gives you a much better chance for getting well. Your health has a great deal more to do with your lifestyle and a lot less to do with taking prescription drugs than most people realize.

Dr. Tieraona Low Dog, with the charisma of a Native American elder, represents a 21st-century wise woman actively building a platform in the new landscape of self-help healthcare. A renowned speaker, she is a key faculty member at Andrew Weil's Center for Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona and a leader in national health policy and regulatory issues.

FOOD

Let your food be your medicine and your medicine be your food.

—Hippocrates

If you want to be healthy, one of the most powerful tools at your disposal is your fork. What you choose to put in your mouth has a direct impact on your long-term risk for developing chronic diseases.

According to the American Heart Association, the National Cancer Institute, the World Cancer Research Fund, and the World Health Organization, up to 80 percent of heart disease and a third of all cancers could be prevented with a healthy diet and lifestyle. Those are staggering statistics. If I told you I had a pill that could cut your chances of getting cancer by 30 percent and a heart attack by 80 percent without any harmful side effects, would you take it? Of course you would! Although there’s no guarantee that a healthy diet will prevent you from ever getting sick, I think most of us want to do what we can to stack the odds in our favor.

Over the past decades, we have lived through the low-fat, calorie-counting, carb-counting, Atkins, South Beach, Zone, raw foods, caveman (Paleolithic), and Eat Right for Your Blood Type approaches to food. Many foods have been vilified: eggs, meat, fish, bread, cheese, milk, and anything with sugar. People repeatedly tell me that they’re confused by all this. And I tell them that eating healthy isn’t that complicated if you understand the basics.

I’m not a certified nutritionist or professional chef. I’m a home cook, mother, and physician. I love delicious food and reject the notion that healthy food equates with boring and bland. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth. My kitchen is stocked with spices, healthy oils, fresh organic fruits and vegetables, whole grains, fish, and humanely raised organic poultry and dairy products. Every time I sit down to eat a meal, I see it as an opportunity to replenish my energy, provide my body with the nutrients it needs to function optimally, and quiet my mind. Food is more than just the sum of its grams of carbohydrates and proteins, calories, vitamins, and minerals. It is a celebration of life, friends, and family.

Family Meals

I like to play soft music, light candles, and set the table nicely for dinner. I treat evening meals as special occasions, because they’re our time for family conversation and for catching up on the happenings of the day. This is not the time to argue with our partner or lecture our kids about grades or homework. It’s a time to celebrate our togetherness. I’m saddened by the statistics that show many families don’t sit down together for even one evening meal a week. Whether the family is two people or a house filled with children, sharing food and conversation is central to healthy relationships.

We’re all busy, so adjusting schedules can be a major undertaking, but ensuring that our families eat dinner (or breakfast) together most—or at least some—days of the week can be done if it’s important to us. My husband is one of nine children, and his father was a busy vascular surgeon in Omaha, Nebraska. Coordinating dinner for 11 people was no easy task for his mother, given all the after- school activities, the sporting events, and the long working hours of her husband. But both parents made dinnertime a priority.

Children were to be at the table by six—be there or be grounded was the rule! My father-in-law would join the family for dinner before returning to the hospital to do his rounds. This allowed everyone a chance to check in about school and upcoming events and simply to reconnect with one another. Those mealtimes together provided nourishment that went far beyond the content of the food.

Studies repeatedly show that the single strongest factor in higher achievement scores and fewer behavioral problems in children of all ages is having more mealtime at home. A study by Columbia University’s National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse found that teenagers who shared fewer than three dinners a week with their families were almost four times more likely to use tobacco, more than twice as likely to use alcohol, and two and a half times more likely to use marijuana, when compared with teens who had five to seven dinners a week with family. When interviewed, most children report that the interaction and togetherness are the best parts of the meal. The busier our lives become, the more important it is to carve out protected time.

Other Products Related to Life Is Your Best Medicine - Hardcover

Everything you do and every choice you make can have a positive and profound impact on your health and well-being. In fact, the science is irrefutable: No drug on the market today can come close to the power of a healthy lifestyle in preventing disease and improving the quality of our lives. Building on this evidence and on her own personal experiences as a medical doctor and holistic healer, Tieraona Low Dog guides women through nearly every facet of their lives, with practical advice and hands-on recommendations for improving their health based on traditional practices and cutting-edge science. From stress-reducing exercises and reenergizing with sleep to the power of forgiveness, nature, and social connectedness, Dr. Low Dog shows how nearly every aspect of your life forms the medicine you need to thrive.

Featuring 350 full-color photographs, botanical drawings, and maps, this accessible, fact-filled book is based on the work of renowned botanical experts and presents alphabetically arranged, beautifully illustrated entries for hundreds of plants touted for thousands of years to soothe and even heal.

Consistently among the top five travel destinations in America, San Diego offers sun, surf, and a cosmopolitan cultural sceneand with this updated guide, visitors will feel right at home both in the city and the surrounding towns that define "beach life" at its Southern California best.

More and more people are combining vacations with volunteer workthe growing phenomenon called "voluntourism." And nobody provides such a fun, inviting overview of the possibilities as savvy travel writer Pam Grout in the latest title in our 100 Best Vacations series.

Ensure that your next vacation won't just be time offit will be time well spent. Full of ideas for lifeenriching getaways in North America, here you'll find activities like cooking, painting, and woodworking. Imagine studying French in a Maine village, learning about nutrition at a historic North Carolina spa, or helping rebuild the devastated communities of the Gulf Coast. Weave a Navajo rug, make a film in New York, learn to surf in Mexico, or choose from many other possibilities. Elegantly designed and packed with attractive and fun descriptions, detailed travel information, lists of unique activities, and special sidebars, this unusual resource tells you all you need to know.

Get a taste of our most popular current series and recent favorite specials with the third volume of our Best of National Geographic Channel DVD Collection. Includes one episode each from Wicked Tuna, Doomsday Preppers, and Border Wars, along with World's Biggest Cave and Known Universe: Most Powerful Stars. See the Title List tab for more information.

Explore the best of the National Geographic Channel with this eight-volume sampler of classic programs exploring topics such as ancient Egypt, the mysteries of the oceans, and the Alaskan wilderness. The collection includes Egypt Eternal, The Battle for Midway, Is It Real: "Da Vinci's Code," Extreme Alaska: Denali National Park, Dino Death Trap and Dino Autopsy from Dinosaurs Unearthed and NG Classics: Oceans, featuring the episodes Shark Island, Great Whales, Ocean Drifters, Jellyfish Invasion, Jewels of the Caribbean Sea, and Humpbacks: Inside the Pod. See the Title List tab for details about each program.

National parks are more than the best idea America ever had—they're our country's best playgrounds for millions of vacationers who want to enjoy recreation activities, nature and wildlife, and down-time with friends, family, or as solo travelers. This timely, idea-filled guide covers "classic" parks, national historical parks, national monuments, national battlefields, national scenic trails, and beyond. Hundreds of Top 10 lists highlight every park's best attractions—best lodges, best hikes, best star-gazing spots, best campfire meal spots. Destinations are covered by region, theme, season, and occasion. photographs, anecdotes from park rangers, and insider tips, plus traveler resources such as hotels and restaurants, make this the national parks guide travelers have long sought.

There is a world of health and healing all around youin your spice rack, your backyard, and on the shelves of health food and grocery stores. This informative guide is a reference you will keep at the ready, connecting 72 of the world's most common and useful medicinal herbs with the body systems they help and heal. Eight chapters focus on body systems: 1. Mental Health & the Nervous System 2. Respiratory System 3. Heart & Circulation 4. Digestive System 5. Joints, Muscles & Skin 6. Urinary & Male Health 7. Female Health 8. Wellness & Perception

This deluxe, entertaining dream guide showcases the experience and savoir-faire of such luminaries as Prince Charles on architecture, Arnold Palmer on favorite golf courses; Bob Ellsasser, head of the esteemed Country Walkers, on the best walks and hiking tours; and Baron Philip de Rothschild on the best vintages. Scores of experts name the 10 best islands, poshest pubs and polo clubs, best things to do on Sundays in the world's best cities, and a treasure trove of musts for the high-end traveler or anyone who aspires to be.